Houthis vow revenge
Yemen rebels smashed by 30 joint US-UK air strikes
SANAA: The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen vowed there would be “consequences” for joint US and British airstrikes on military sites around the country.
After the third wave of assaults from Britain and the US – the latest on Saturday striking at least 30 Houthi targets in 10 locations – Yahya Sarea, a spokesman for the Houthi rebels, said the attacks “will not pass without a response and consequences”.
He claimed that at least 48 airstrikes were carried out within hours across Sanaa, Hodeidah and Taiz. “These attacks will not deter us from our moral, religious and humanitarian stance in support of the steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip,” he said.
But the US warned any attacks from the Houthis would be met with force.
President Joe Biden had promised a response to a drone attack in Jordan that killed three US troops and wounded many more on January 28.
While the Pentagon has said it does not want war with Iran, Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, announced on Sunday there would be more strikes on Iranian-backed groups. He told NBC’s Meet the Press: “We intend to take additional strikes and additional action, to continue to send a clear message that the United States will respond when our forces are attacked.”
Mr Sullivan said Iran should expect “a swift and forceful response” if it “chose to respond directly” against the US.
He said Mr Biden told his commanders that “they need to be positioned to respond to further attacks as well.”
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron implored the Houthis to stop their “reckless” attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea. He said Saturday’s assaults came after “repeated warnings” for the rebel group to cease its harassment campaign.
“We have issued repeated warnings to the Houthis. Their reckless actions are putting innocent lives at risk, threatening the freedom of navigation and destabilising the region,” Mr Cameron said.
Since Hamas’s attacks in Israel on October 7, Iran’s proxies have come out in solidarity with Hamas in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
The drone attack in Jordan prompted 48 hours of strikes on Iranian-linked sites in Iraq and Syria which are understood to have killed nearly 40 people.
Iran also issued a warning to the US over potentially targeting two cargo ships in the Middle East long suspected of serving as Iranian spy ships.